Archieve2
| My Santa Maria Memories |
| Fema A few minutes ago I heard on KCOY TV in Santa Maria that FEMA was considering designating the areas along the levees in the Santa Maria valley as flood zones. To me, this a gross injustice. In the 1950s a representative of the Newhall Company asked my mother's father, Frank Silva, to check yes or no on a form that asked: "Has your property ever been flooded by the Santa Maria River?" He checked "no"-using a pencil that the Newhall Company representative had given my grandfather to use. The moment the man got the form and pencil back, he erased the "no" and checked the "yes". Having a concern about what was going on, over the next 8 months or so- I asked EVERY property owner along both sides of the Santa Maria River- two persons said they had lied in checking yes(they said they hoped to put in fake damage claims later & the rest had all checked no. Over a year after I finished that survey I read in the Santa Maria Times that a bill in Congress had been passed to build the levees and build Twitchell Dam. I phoned one of the two senators- he said it was too late to do anything. I phoned the head general of the Army Corps of Engineers- he said it was to late to do anything. I did learn from hm that the Newhall Company had sold the property where Twitchell Dam is now to te United States of America- that was his motive for submitting the false surveys to the US Corps of Engineers. Today, if FEMA is using the US Army Corps of Engineers information, then the flood zone designations will cause a big increase in flood insurance in the Santa Maria valley- residential and in agriculture. FEMA may even use the existence of the levees as a basis for the flood zone designations(levees are based on falsified information;and, remember that the existence of the FEMA employee's job depends on making the decision- how is anybody going to read that FEMA employee's mind? That out of the way, it is accidental that I am sending this message the day after sending you an in-house message yesterday(about the guest worker program issue). And I read that the mayor of Santa Maria is scheduled to meet with you on the FEMA issue- as far as I know he does not know about what I wrote about the falsified information above. I do not believe that he was living in the Santa Maria Valley at the time. |
| Manzanita Farms Manzanita Farms - To Kill Me In Revenge - 3 Times! Oh, yes I did quite a bit to Manzanita Farms (farming on East Main from the 1980s to when I moved in 2005 and still there now in 2006), starting back in the 1950s, same owner as now, every year. I saw Manzanita workers steal sacks of carrots from Edward and John Mier next to Oso Flaco Road- then I told many of the central coast farmers, and some non-farmers, to warn them. And I saw Manzanita workers planting artichoke plants next to Main Street, next to the dunes- on Clarence Minetti property. Within 5 minutes I told Clarence what I had seen. Clarence sent some of his men in a pickup truck to beat Manzanita off his land. I told many farmers and others about this theft by Manzanita. Behind Joe and Mary Teixeira's house I saw the Manzanita Farms foreman point his machete at 2 Teixeira workers and say to them: "Work for Manzanita or die". I immediately pointed to them so that Norman and JC Teixeira could make the Manzanita man leave. Most people are against slavery. When that Manzanita foreman tried to hide rotten cucumbers under good cucumbers when delivering to my father Frank Dias, I told my father- Manzanita did not get any money and lost their best way to deliver produce to market in Los Angeles. When I saw that somebody had taken down the for rent sign on the property at the north-west corner of Highway 1 and Oso Flaco Road, I told my granfather, Frank Silva, and asked around about who the owner was(Los Angeles area). The next day Manzanita started to plant artichoke plants on that property. When George Hancock and the Adams and Furakawa and Kagawa and Tomooka told me about Manzanita driving on their farms, I spread that. I did all that- that contributed much to the wanting to organize the fight between the winner-take-all fight between the Santa Maria Valley farmers and Manzanita Farms. Out numbered 18-13, the farmers whipped Manzanita bad and cost Manzanita Farms millions of dollars-great reasons to try to kill me in revenge.But, there is another, more personal reason Manzanita wants me dead. A Manzanita worker, the big, strong one, pushed Henry Souza down. And then, while Henry lay there defenseless, his arms spread out, saying "Please, no!", the Manzanita worker raised his pitchfork to spear Henry. I took out a small rock from my pocket and threw it, hitting the Manzanita would-be murderer in the back of the head. That Manzanita worker stumbled and partially turned to me. His right eye now only showed white and his left eye now hung out of the eye socket. He fell dead. And 6 other Manzanita workers lay dead at the end of the day-7 very personal reasons for Manzanita Farms to kill me in revenge.The first time Manzanita tried to kill me, I was standing about 8 feet from Main Street, on the farm where I lived for 45 years. The number 4 Manzanita Farms worker, driving a white van, did not see anybody when he started to pull off the road. When he saw that somebody was where he wanted to drive, he drove away from that place. But then he looked close, for a long time. Recognizing me, he then changed his course and pointed his van at me. I ran behind a telephone pole. He drove back on Main Street. Earlier that day, the owner(real owner) had pointed towards me while talking to this Manzanita employee. Number one attempt of Manzanita to murder me for revengeNumber two time Manzanita Farms tried to kill me was a day that I saw 2 big, husky girls get out of a car and mix in with the regular Manzanita berry pickers as they got off work. These two girls walked across Main Street to where I lived. One of them tried to walk behind me, but I saw that and turned so that she could not surprise me. When I did that, the other girl pushed me from behind- into the path of the number 5 Manzanita employee's car- then both big girls got into that car and left- the only purpose of that Manzanita employee was to pick up those two girls, who were perfectly clean and were so big they could not even see around their pot-bellies to see any strawberries to pick. Easier for me to recognize now that the first girl had turned me around so that the second would be behind me, in position to push me into the path of the car. Good girl and bad girl. Good girl acts innocent and the bad girl tricks me into a situation for the other to try to kill me. They wish. I stopped myself in time to stay alive. They ran over one of my feet. Some of the bones in that foot come a little loose sometimes, but I manipulate them back into place. Number two attempt by Manzanita farms to murder me for revenge.Number 3 try by Manzanita farms was a day that I saw the owner, so I was careful. But careful me could not outrun a bullet by a high-poweredrifle fired from where the Manzanita farms regular employees(no pickers) parked their cars that day.The bullets(3) did not hit me- I ducked behind a block fence.A few minutes before I had seen the white van of the attempted murder try number one going away from the parked cars. First time I had seen that van since Manzanita had tried to murder me the first time(above). I was seeding new lawn for my mother, in the open, so they had the time and opportunity to go get the rifle and come back to try to kill me. They did stay there parked after their normal work was over. All of the regular employees stayed there until after the shots were fired at me. Manzanita tried to kill me for revenge 3 times- so far. |
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Sisters' Hospital Marion Hospital and The Japanese Internment Camp Refugees In about July of 1951, there was an obvious need for emergency help for a Japanese Internment Camp Refugee woman- she was bleeding heavily as part of her trying to give birth. I asked my grandfather, Frank Silva, to take her to a hospital- I asked for Sisters' Hospital(Our Lady of Perpetual Help). Previously, the administrator, a man named Marion(Marion Hospital), seemed, to me, to be concerned about the plight of the refugees- I had explained some of their situation to him. Their having fled their homes with only the clothes on their backs and their being hunted and beaten and killed had Marion lose the usual red color in his face, fast. Remembering this is why I asked for Sisters' Hospital. Marion ordered the woman taken into the emergency operating room right away and the woman's life was saved. Her baby was okay- born in the safe haven camp of Masayoshi and Toyocuma Tomooka. This woman was the first of about 700 that my grandfather and I took to Sisters' Hospital. Most were broken arms and legs, second most were for extensive bleeding from cuts from beatings. Nearly all of these were treated free of charge, even though there was supposed to be a small fee. I told the area farmers about the medical situation available to the Japaneese Refugees, but I do not know if anybody came to the hospital because of receiving the information that way. A few of the refugees sent in anonymous donations when their offerings to pay were turned down. I did direct a few dozen to Sisters' Hospital, but I do not actually know what happened to them. I do know that many would have died had Marion and/or the staff of Sisters' Hospital turned their backs on them in their time of need. Marion and the staff are heroes to me, especially because they kept on giving in their time of having to scrape together every last cent to keep their doors open. Bobby Dias |
| Let's Play Hide and Seek With The Feds One summer, a fast-talking, slick U.S. government man went from farm to farm in the Santa MariaValley. This mighty salesman promised the farmers all the farm workers they wanted, cheap- the Bracero Program. Doing what they said was their patriotic duty($$$ to you and me), the farmers signed up eagerly. Depending on anybody for labor would be no more. Everybody would be happy. When the Bracero workers started, there was some happiness- until those workers did not have to do much work to collect their pay. Who was to fire them? Some guy in Washington who depended on high numbers to keep HIS job! These Braceros knew it, so they came and went as they chose to and worked slow when they came. That was only the small problem with the Braceros. The Braceros found out quick that if they were arrested by the city or county law enforcement officers, the U.S. Marshals demanded their release and got them out of jail, quick. The U.S. Marshals needed those workers to justify their pay. Old people were robbed, women and girls were raped. The County of Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department sent two deputies to scare off the U.S. Marshals supervisor and another Marshal. I watched as the deputies pretended to shoot at the U.S. Marshals and I saw the Marshals fire back- they were really trying to kill the deputies. Back and forth they fired until everybody had run out of ammunition. The deputies left, nothing settled. The farmers tried to get out of the contracts in court, but the ruling was as long as the Feds were producing something, the contracts stood- the farmers could not even hire somebody else. The part about being able to produce something stuck in my mind, until the next time I was watching the Braceros, standing next to Mr. Gomes, the manager for Rosemary Farms. I recognized that they needed something to put their produce in when they picked it. Ha- the Feds were going to get to play hide and seek with the farmers for containers to use to fill their labor contracts! Me, a four-year- old kid, looked up at six foot, four inch Gomes and said "They need something to put the produce in". Gomes looked at me, did not say a word and left to start making phone calls. There were several meetings that evening to make plans for the next night, when the Fed Marshals slept. In the morning, Mr. Gomes boss- George Allan Hancock(Allan Hancock College and Marian Medical Center) arrived flying a plane with 25 of his oil field workers. They were to be some of the drivers to hide the trailers and other vehicles needed by the Marshals- Hancock had 13,000 plus oilwells scattered through California). That night they did their job and the locals went hunting for anything that the Marshals could use, including pickups(many objections from the owners, but all were taken and hidden. By dawn everything useable from Paso Robles to Santa Barbara were gone and hidden. Some Marshals got very angry. The Marshals' supervisor pistol-whipped a lady for not telling how 300 produce trailers disappeared from a quarter-mile her home. If he had asked her why she said she did not know, she would have told him about being a night nurse at Santa Maria Hospital(now closed). She was even scared of me when I found her hiding and sobbing behind her home. Maybe it was worth it, because the first time the Marshals could not process one piece of vegetables, the farmers took them to court that afternoon and then the judge declared the contracts null and void. The Feds lose and the people of the Santa Maria Valley when play Hide And Seek!!! That's not all folks! The Santa Maria Times and The Lompoc Record and The Santa Maria Breeze put out special editions asking for unpaid help to catch up on harvesting. Santa Maria Printers printed flyers to be distributed. The next morning, there were at least 700-800 men, women and children driving and walking out to the farms, on Main Street, Donovan Road and Betteravia Road and spreading out, asking anybody and everybody where they could help. In a week, those people fixed everything the Feds and the Braceros had messed up. Now we could live our lives. By Bobby Dias |